She determined that she would consult with Harry and with her uncle, and take counsel from them as to what steps might be taken to save the brand from the burning.

She talked to him as a mother might have done, leaning on his arm, as she returned; leaning on him as a woman never leans on a man whom she deems unfit for her society.

All this Charley's heart and instinct fully understood, and he was not ungrateful.
But yet he had but little to comfort him.

He must return to town on Monday; return to Mr.Snape and the lock entries, to Mr.
M'Ruen and the three Seasons--to Mrs.Davis, Norah Geraghty, and that horrid Mr.Peppermint.He never once thought of Clementina Golightly, to whom at that moment he was being married by the joint energies of Undy Scott and his cousin Alaric.
And what had Linda and Norman been doing all this time?
Had they been placing mutual confidence in each other?
No; they had not come to that yet.

Linda still remembered the pang with which she had first heard of Gertrude's engagement, and Harry Norman had not yet been able to open his seared heart to a second love.
In the course of the evening a letter was brought to Captain Cuttwater, which did not seem to raise his spirits.
'Whom is your letter from, uncle ?' said Mrs.Woodward.
'From Alaric,' said he, gruffly, crumpling it up and putting it into his pocket.